Scary Bad Guys

Six imams were forced off a USAir flight on the Monday before Thanksgiving because another passenger was “uncomfortable.” Forced off. In handcuffs. In Minneapolis, where they’d “…been attending a three-day meeting of the North American Imams Federation in the Minneapolis area ‘discussing how to build bridges’ between Muslims and American society…” (from the Reuters story at Yahoo.com).

OK, the story is a little more complicated than that. Imagine six rabbis coming home after a reviving few days in the company of dozens or hundreds (in this case about 150) of their fellows at a rabbinic conference. When you attend these things, the airport is where you get the rude shock of awakening: Hey, you’re a minority within a minority again, you’re not in that lovely safe space anymore where you and your friends and acquaintaces and fellow rabbis (imams, Jews, Muslims) are everywhere. You can keep the feeling during the taxi ride, but it dissipates when you get to that big check-in hall filled with hundreds of people who don’t care about you. But still, the cameraderie and sense of bouyancy that come from attending such a conference can be stretched even into the airport, if you are travelling in the company of friends who are also returning home.

My hypothetical rabbis get to the airport and it’s time to davven mincha — that is, pray the afternoon prayer. They stand to the side, swaying and mumbling out of their little books. Weird looks. These imams probably stretched out their prayer rugs and prayed, standing shoulder to shoulder and kneeling and reciting non-English words from memory. Weird looks.

Then they get on the plane. And here is exactly what they are accused of doing:

“…some witnesses reported the men were making anti-American statements involving the Iraq war, asked to change seats once inside the cabin, that one requested an extender to make his seat belt larger even though he did not appear to need it and that in general ‘there was some peculiar behavior.'” (From the Reuters story again.)

So they’re exercising their right of free speech to criticize their government — I am assuming here that these imams are American citizens, which is most probable. They’re probably continuing a thread of conversation that had begun over the weekend. You could have heard the same thing following a get-together of any of hundreds of other groups. Lots of us are criticizing the American government about its handling of the war. We’re allowed to do that, remember? Even on an airplane. I wonder just what these men said that was tagged as “anti-American” rather than “criticizing the government.”

So they wanted to sit together. Wouldn’t you?! I often have trouble getting seats together for my whole family, so I ask to change seats all the time once I get on a plane. Folks take one look at my two small children and comply willingly! In this case it’s even more likely that the imams would have to switch in order to sit together, because they probably made their own reservations individually and only hoped that they might get to sit together, to extend the collegiality of the conference through the flight home. I just don’t think that this is a handcuffable offense.

So someone was afraid that one of the men had an explosive belt hidden under his clothing. Right? Isn’t that what the seatbelt nonsense is about? Excuse me, that’s what the security screening is for, right? So we don’t have to worry once we get on the plane? I get it that security screening is not perfect, but the logic here escapes me. Becuase the big problem with all this is that if these men looked and sounded Swedish instead of vaguely dark and Middle Eastern, nobody would have equated asking for a belt extender with anything dangerous. Or moving around the cabin more than the flight attendant wanted you to. Or talking politics.

They were removed from the plane in handcuffs, questioned, the entire plane was re-screened (and took off 3 hours late), and these six men WERE DENIED BOARDING ON ANY OTHER USAIR FLIGHT. As Imam Omar Shahin, one of the six, said, “Six scholars in handcuffs.” It’s a shanda, an embarrassment, a shame. Not for the six imams, though they certainly had reason to feel humiliated by their treatment, but for those whose fear prompted them to complain and even moreso for those who treated the men like they constituted a danger, simply because they were clearly Muslim.

So after Thanksgiving, several imams, some Christian clergy, and our own Rabbi Arthur Waskow staged a pray-in at the airport in Washington DC. (Couldn’t they have found at least one supportive clergywoman, though?) Here’s the TU story about the pray-in. Here’sRabbi Waskow’s message about it. And here’s a picture that I am proud of:

That’s Rabbi Waskow on the right, linking arms with (right to left) Mahdi Bray, Director of the Muslim American Society; Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, with the National Black Leadership Roundtable; Ibrahim Ramey, Director of Civil and Human Rights with the Muslim American Society (just behind the linked four); and Imam Omar Shahin. They are at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport, Monday, Nov. 27, 2006. That’s yesterday. (This photo and others can be found here.)

It reminds me of nothing so much as the famous (to those of us who know) photograph of the march from Selma to Montgomery on March 21, 1965. The marchers in this photo include, from left to right: U.S. Representative John Lewis (D-GA), who had been severely beaten on March 7, 1965, while leading the “Bloody Sunday” march; an unidentified nun; Ralph Abernathy; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Ralph Bunche, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel; the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth. (The photo, this description, and more info can be found here.)

I think the comparison is apt. One rabbi, and one rabbi only, apparently, had the prior connections that allowed him to be present and accounted for in support of a group even more distressed than Jews. (There’s a lot I could say about that, and to some it might sound funny without further explanation, since white-skinned American Jews generally enjoy a level of privilege equal to or above other white-skinned Americans, due to our academic and economic advancement. But let me tell you, that situation is less that 100 years old.) I don’t know the backstory with Rabbi Heschel. But I do know that Rabbi Waskow has been cultivating personal relationships with Muslim leaders for several years, and has been doing interfaith dialogue so much that he published a book about how Judaism, Islam and Christianity view the Abraham stories. And so when these imams decided to stage the pray-in, they had someone in the Jewish community to call … and they could call, and they did call, and he showed up, even though it meant getting home a day late.

I have my own local connections. We don’t nurture them as full-time as Rabbi Waskow does — we all have our own congregations to give first priority to. But we do get together on a regular basis — in fact we’re talking this week, and I wonder what we’ll say about this.

3 Responses

I spent seven years with Omar. Did you know there is a Protective Order in Phoenix Courts in reference to Omar Shahin? And that ONE of his numerous wives has filed for a Legal Separation? Are you aware that I lost all my children because of his polygamy, and that I am Jewish? Or that Oday Shahin and twenty other children were arrested and charged with Federal Weapons Violations in March 2008, in Phoenix? Did you know that he sent me to meet three men convicted of terrorism? Namely, Muhammed Amawe, Marwan El-Hindi and Wassim Mazloum, (Cleveland, Ohio) whom I turned in to the FBI. They are serving life sentences for conspiracy to commit terrorism, as of August 2008. I retain the tape recordings I made of Omar Shahin talking about US Airways and 9-11 BEFORE they happened. I have been posting the legal actions to the internet, and am posting the audio files as well. He fooled you.

Reb Deb replies:

No, I wasn’t aware of any of what you write. Some of it happened after I wrote this post in 2006. Here is one source which mentions some of your assertions (from 2008; the website styles itself “Arizona’s Home Page.”) The rest of your comment is about things I’m not able to verify one way or the other.

I disagree about my being “fooled.” In our country, words are permitted. Praying is permitted. Freedom of association is permitted. This is true whether or not we agree with the words, the prayers, or the activities of the group (within certain limits — but certainly freedom of association in terms of sitting next to someone on an airplane flight is permitted). As someone (commonly cited as Voltaire, but see here) said, “I do not agree with a word that you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” That’s what I was doing. I don’t think that I was fooled that their rights were violated, according to American law and custom. Which is, after all, the prevailing law in this country.

Following are two newspaper links verifying the arrests of a relative of Omar, who was charged with a felony for Federal Weapons Violations, and the more recent arrest of his friend and 9/11 co-conspirator, Ibrahim Dremali, and Dremali’s wife. A man is known by the company he keeps, and it seems odd to me that all his friends turn out to be terrorists or law breakers. It won’t be long until Omar Shahin is brought to justice also. And regarding the removal of Omar from the US Airways flight… he did mention that he would be taking another carrier, specifically, a NWA flight. Odd that ANOTHER OMAR subsequently proceeded to try to blow up a NWA carrier, December 25, 2009, in Detroit. Also, since his son and friends were arrested for anything from immigration violations, to weapons violations, to even terrorism, maybe the US Airways was justified in removing him from the plane. He wasn’t removed for praying, but because his best buddies in Ohio and Phoenix were involved in terrorism. The entire US Airways thing on his part was staged for PR and money, nothing else. I know, because he told me about it back in 2003.

FrontPage Magazine – The Visiting Jihadist ￼
B y allowing Ibrahim Dremali and other Islamists onto its premises – even paying for their services – UCF has demonstrated that it is of the latter variety.
archive.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=21656

Shiek Ibrahim Dremali Arrested by the FBI | American Muslimah’s …

More on this page
… fraud and conspiracy regarding the immigration and naturalization process of the United States.

Shiek Dremali has been an outspoken anti-war activist in addition to being the long time Imam of the Des Moines Islamic Center. He recently had left his position as Imam of the Des Moines Islamic Center due to his battle with cancer and his …

Hassan Abu-Jihaad, Former U.S. Sailor Who Leaked Navy Secrets … Hassan Abu-Jihaad, Former U.S. Sailor Who … legally changing his name to Abu-jihaad, which means “father of jihad.” … Shareef lives in Abu-jihaad’s Phoenix home for about …www.jonathanpollard.org/2009/040409.htm – Cached

Phoenix Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Passing Secrets to … Paul R. Hall, who has apparently changed his name to Hassan Abu-Jihaad, was arrested in Phoenix in 2007 … Jihaad ordered from Azzam Publications that promoted violent jihad …blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com2009/04/phoenix… – Cached

Hassan Abu-Jihad was in Omar’s inner circle of friends too. Oh, and Debbie, I still have the original tape recordings I made of him talking about 9/11 BEFORE it happened, and the letters Omar sent to me from his mosque office, as well as the postmarked envelopes with his fingerprints on them. He was removed from the flight because he is a suspect regarding 9/11, and because his friends were arrested for terrorism and other crimes. Those are all red flags.

That, Ms. Schlussel, is precisely my point. Since our last chat I also discovered that Omar Shahin’s close friend and cohort, Ibrahim Dremali, was arrested with his wife in Austin, Texas, for immigration fraud. Since American law is the presiding law of the land, as you stated, how then is it that Mr. Shahin is able to openly practice polygamy, human trafficking, and to engage openly with friends who have now been convicted of terrorism? And, the reason he was pulled off the US Airways flight, was because he and his friends are actually on a no-fly list, due to their close connections to persons already convicted of terrorism. As a matter of fact, the State of Iowa openly lists Omar Shahin as being the subject of a terrorist investigation, and was the main reason that my mother and younger daughter were placed in a protective program. This wasn’t about seating arrangements, and it seems clever subterfuge that the US Airways incident would be explained as such. In fact, anoter man, named Umar Abdulmutallib proceeded to make a failed NWA terrorist attack in December 25, 2009, upon Omar Shahin’s directions. AND, the Judge in Arizona Courts verifies that my Protective Order is issued against Omar Shahin for the reasons of his being involved directly in close relationship with convicted terrorists. I am also in communication with the State Department and several embassies, in regards to the ongoing problems Mr. Shahin creates for me. When the court proceedings are finished, and my lawsuit is settled, I will post the results for you to read. You may also go online to my website, in which I am loading tape recorded phone calls and conversations I had over the seven years with Mr. Shahin. I hope this helps to shed a little light upon the subject of his credibility.
Wendy Rosen